LAMORINDA WEEKLY | 'Minions'


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Yes, those single-celled organisms that look like yellow Tic Tacs in blue jean overalls from the blockbuster film franchise "Despicable Me" have their own movie. We all saw this coming when the first "Despicable Me" grossed $251 million at the box office and "Despicable Me 2" grossed $368 million. It makes business sense to continue the franchise with a Minion movie.

This movie teaches us about the history of the Minions' long journey to find their leader. They had many failed masters over time from T-Rex and Dracula to Napoleon, entertainingly narrated by Geoffrey Rush. As they continue to lose masters, they fall into a deep depression. One Minion, Kevin, steps forward to make everything better for his fellow Minions as he goes on a quest to find their new leader. Only two other Minions, one-eyed Stuart and childlike Bob, step forward to assist Kevin in his expedition. Their mission takes them to New York City, where they discover their trademark blue jean overalls and learn about "Villain Con" in Orlando. They head to Orlando to meet and hopefully discover their new leader Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock), the most powerful villainess in the world. Scarlet takes the Minions under her wing but she has her own evil plan with her husband, Herb (Jon Hamm), to steal the Queen of England's royal crown. Kevin, Stuart and Bob are whisked away to London.

As in the "Despicable Me" movies, the Minions stay true to their characters, which would be best described as cute, wacky and loony. If one can get past their language, which for me was annoying at times, there are some funny scenes in the movie. The music soundtrack is a real treat for adults. I think you will be singing "Mellow Yellow" as you exit the theater.

Minions is rated PG with a TRT (Total Running Time) of 92 minutes.

Below are a few Minion words to prepare you for the movie:

Minion English

Bello Hello

Poopaye Goodbye

Tank yu Thank you

Me Want Banana I'm hungry

Tulaliloo ti amo We love

Underwear I swear